Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are nano-sized graphene slices. With their small size, lamellar and aromatic-ring structure, GQDs tend to enter into the cell nucleus and interfere with DNA activity. Thus, GQD alone is expected to be an anticancer reagent. Herein, we developed GQDs that suppress the growth of tumor by selectively damaging the DNA of cancer cells. The amine-functionalized GQDs were modified with nucleus targeting TAT peptides (TAT-NGs) and further grafted with cancer-cell-targeting folic acid (FA) modified PEG via disulfide linkage (FAPEG-TNGs). The resulting FAPEG-TNGs exhibited good biocompatibility, nucleus uptake, and cancer cell targeting. They adsorb on DNA via the π–π and electrostatic interactions, which induce the DNA damage, the upregulation of the cell apoptosis related proteins, and the suppression of cancer cell growth, ultimately. This work presents a rational design of GQDs that induce the DNA damage to realize high therapeutic performance, leading to a distinct chemotherapy strategy for targeted tumor therapy.
Output power scaling of single mode large mode area (LMA) photonic crystal fiber (PCF) amplifiers urgently requires the low refractive index of Yb-doped silica glasses whilst maintaining high optical homogeneity. In this paper, we report on a promising alternative Yb/Al/F/P-co-doped silica core-glass (YAFP), which is prepared by modified sol-gel method developed by our group and highly suitable for fabricating high power LMA PCF amplifiers. By controlling the doping combinations of Al/F/P in Yb-doped silica glass,it not only ensures low refractive index (RI) but also maintains the excellent optical homogeneity and spectroscopic properties of Yb. The spectroscopic properties of Yb ions have not deteriorated by the co-doping of F and P in YAFP glass compared with that of Yb/Al co-doped silica glass. A large-size (⌀5 mm × 90 mm) YAFP silica-core glass rod with low average RI difference of 2.6 × 10 (with respect to pure silica glass), and low radial and axial RI fluctuations of ~2 × 10, was prepared. A LMA PCF with 50 µm core diameter was obtained by stack-capillary-draw techniques using YAFP core glass. Its core NA is 0.027. An average amplified power of 97 W peaking at 1030 nm and light-light efficiency of 54% are achieved from a 6.5 m long PCF in the pulse amplification laser experiment. Meanwhile, quasi-single-mode transmission is obtained with laser beam quality factor M of 1.4.
We report on an original method that measures sample thickness in a diamond anvil cell under high pressures. The method is based on two hypotheses: completely plastic deformation on the gasket and completely elastic deformation of the diamonds. This method can further eliminate the effect of diamond deformation on the thickness measurement of a sample, which permits us to measure the thickness of alumina up to 41.4 GPa.
An index-depressed active core, single-mode phosphate all-solid large-mode-area photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is theoretically investigated using full-vectorial finite difference approach and experimentally realized. The PCF has a maximum output power of 5.4 W and 31% slope efficiency. Single-mode operation is realized through PCFs with core diameters of 30, 35, and 40 μm, respectively. The beam quality is not degraded even at maximum output power. Our simulations and experiments reveal that the laser performance is significantly affected by the center-to-center distance between the two nearest rods Λ, the rod diameter d, and their ratio d/Λ, implying that much attention should be given in employing optimal parameters to achieve excellent laser performance.
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